British Airway's Biofuel Awaiting UK Approval: Report

Date:16-Feb-10Country: UKAuthor: Caroline Copley

A British Airways Jumbo Jet taxis past parked aircraft at Heathrow Airport in west London February 5, 2010.Photo: Toby Melville

LONDON - The biofuel made from municipal waste that will account for a small proportion of British Airway's jet fuel from 2014, has yet to pass regulatory approval in Britain, according to the Guardian.

The British airline said on Monday it had signed a deal to purchase all the "sustainable jet fuel" that U.S.-based biofuel company Solena Group could produce from a plant expected to be sited in London and operational from 2014.

But the DStan department in the Ministry of Defense which regulates aviation fuel in Britain, wants to conduct further tests to make sure the biofuel does not compromise aircraft safety and performance, the paper said.

A spokesman for the British Airways said safety remained the airline's highest priority.

"Fischer Tropsch fuel has already been certified in the U.S. ... for use in a 50/50 blend with petroleum jet fuel and we anticipate that the UK's Defense Standards agency will follow suit," the spokesman said in a statement.

British Airways said it aimed to obtain 10 percent of all its jet fuel from this waste-to-energy process by 2050.